Women Be Dying Younger

A new study published in the journal Health Affairs found the following odd thing:

We examined trends in male and female mortality rates from 1992–96 to 2002–06 in 3,140 US counties. We found that female mortality rates increased in 42.8 percent of counties, while male mortality rates increased in only 3.4 percent. Several factors, including higher education levels, not being in the South or West, and low smoking rates, were associated with lower mortality rates.

Our favorite of these is "not being in the South or West," as a way to not die younger. Something for everyone to strongly consider: not being in the South or West.

As to why this counterintuitive mortality disparity between women and men has cropped up, nobody's sure.

Ladies?

[Photo of women striving desperately to ignore their fate: Shutterstock]